Chelsea moved into the UEFA Conference League quarter-finals with a 3-1 aggregate victory over FC Copenhagen after earning a 1-0 win in the second leg despite not having a shot during a dreadful first-half performance at Stamford Bridge.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall struck 10 minutes into the second half after Enzo Maresca had to call upon Cole Palmer and Marc Cucurella to inject some life into his side at half-time.
Chelsea delivered one of their worst performances during the opening period, unable to test the visiting goalkeeper as Copenhagen out-thought and out-fought their hosts leading to some boos from the home fans at the half-time whistle.
But after Palmer and Cucurella were introduced, Dewsbury-Hall skipped through the opposition defence and into the box where he fired confidently into the bottom right corner to ease any nerves.
Chelsea went on to have 11 shots in the second half but Palmer was unable to end his goal drought which now stands at 10 games. He went close midway through the second half with a curling shot that went wide of the left post and then had a late shot saved.
Chelsea will play Legia Warsaw in the quarter-finals on April 10 and 17.
Maresca: We planned for strong second-halves
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said:
“The first leg we played in Denmark, first half we struggled, second half we were much better. The reason why is because we planned both games that way. The first game there we tried to analyse a little bit in the first half and then to push a little bit in the second half in case we needed it.
“And because we won there, we prepared the game exactly in the same way tonight. First half we analysed, we saw what we needed to improve. We changed the structure, we changed Joshua Acheampong, not because he was not doing well, he was doing very good.
“We changed him because we needed to change the structure. We were attacking with five, we needed to attack with six players, and second half was much better.”
Chelsea can’t keep relying on second-half improvements
Sky Sports’ David Richardson at Stamford Bridge:
Chelsea have made light work of their Conference League campaign but were given a timely reminder against Copenhagen that their standards can’t drop.
The worrying first-half performance that saw them fail to have a shot would have been punished by a better side. It will do little to ease the concerns of their supporters over Enzo Maresca’s style amid their patchy form, propped up by recent wins over Leicester and Southampton.
Maresca has shrewdly used his squad to navigate this competition and they deserved to go through over the two legs in this tie. Cup football is about winning and they have won.
However, they had to call upon Cole Palmer and Marc Cucurella at half-time of the second leg to be sure they would reach the quarter-finals.
Maresca insists it was all part of the plan, to make the required tactical changes to see them through. It is a risky approach that could find them with too much to do in future.
Dewsbury-Hall: We’d be stupid to think we can’t win ECL
Chelsea goalscorer Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall said:
“Chelsea have won the Champions League, the Europa League, it would be stupid of us to say we can’t win this.
“It’s not arrogant from us but we just know the quality that we have in the squad. Copenhagen are a good team but we are happy to be through.”
